1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to golf training devices which with minimal effort will repeatedly present a golf ball on a tee at a desired presentation height to a golf player, thereby permitting the player to practice his swing without having to change his stance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf is a sport that emphasizes highly refined and honed skills and which is enjoyed by millions around the world. Because a high degree of refinement of one's stroke is required for successful and competitive play, numerous strategies have been developed to aid in teaching proper movement. Each of these strategies in some manner requires a player to repeat the same movement time and again. For example, a player may simply bring a bucket of golf balls to a driving range and proceed to hit each one, stopping between each shot in order to prepare the next ball. Miniature golf putting practice areas may be installed indoors and require a player to repeatedly putt a ball into a target hole. Miniature golf practice areas have also been designed to allow a player to practice a full swing. Short flight balls have been developed for outdoor use and permit a player to take a full swing without requiring a tremendous hike afterwards in order to retrieve the struck ball. At one technological extreme, sensors may be attached to a player and swing data may be collected for computer emulation and analysis.
Automatic teeing devices present a simple strategy for aiding stroke refinement that allow a player to practice his swing in a manner most closely resembling the swing he will need in competitive play. Typically, several balls are loaded into a hopper and are released individually for positioning on a tee or tee-like device. The method of positioning the balls varies from device to device, but the end result is that a ball is presented to a player on a tee at a particular height repeatedly at the same location. After the player takes his swing a mechanism such as a depressible switch or button is used to signal for the release and positioning of the next ball. By using such a device, a player eliminates the time and effort he would have spent in positioning his balls which gives him more time to spend practicing his swing. Moreover, the player may maintain his stance so that he can find a successful "groove" and preserve the learning experience by committing it to muscle memory. The player also reduces the risk of getting dirty or wet when playing in less than ideal weather.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,148, issued to John F. Elder, Jr. on Oct. 18, 1994, demonstrates an automatic below-ground golf ball teeing mechanism in which balls are stored in a hopper until needed. After hitting a ball, a player depresses a button which causes a teeing mechanism contained within a silo to retract downwardly. A trough connects the ball hopper to the silo and gravity is used to cause a ball to load from the trough to the top of the retracted tee. The loaded tee then rises through the cylinder on a pneumatically driven piston. Holding or releasing the button may cause air pressure to be reversed in order to promote the retraction or rising phases of the piston. The height of the piston may be adjusted so that the player may practice different ball situations. The tee must rise from its cylinder on a telescoping section whose extension is limited by a surrounding collar which is secured about the structure with screws. Changing the placement of the collar alters the ultimate tee height.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,075,774, issued to Alvin E. Buell on Jan. 29, 1963, shows a below-ground golf ball teeing device which is human-activated and driven. Balls are stored in a hopper which is connected to a teeing device by an elongated ball raceway. A main shaft which is pivotally attached to a fulcrum is weighted at one end. At the opposite end, the main shaft engages both a golf tee and a second shaft which is pivotally connected to a ball dispensing device. A pedal is connected to the main shaft between a fulcrum and the tee. Depressing the pedal lowers the tee and indirectly triggers the release of a ball from the ball dispensing device so that a single ball is released into the ball raceway. The dispensing device is a disc in which a ball-receiving recess has been cut. The recess can receive one golf ball from the hopper. Depressing the pedal manipulates a series of interconnected shafts to cause the disc to rotate, thereby conveying a ball from the hopper to the raceway. The ball passes from the raceway and comes to rest atop the tee. Depressing the pedal also causes the weight attached to the main shaft to rise. When the pedal is released, gravity acting upon the raised weight causes the main shaft to pivot back to its rest position, thereby raising the tee until the golf ball is at an appropriate height. The height of the ball is controlled by an adjustable stop screw which is interposed between the pedal and the pivot. The stop screw limits the amount by which the main shaft may pivot in reaching the rest position and in so doing, the screw also limits the ultimate height of the tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,206, issued to James F. Shouse on Sep. 28, 1948, shows a golf ball teeing device for mounting beneath a floor area in which a main shaft is pivotally mounted at one end to the base of the device. A depressible tee is mounted to the opposite end of the shaft and may support a single golf ball and beneath which is a compressible spring. Balls are held in a hopper and are connected to the teeing device by a chute which is large enough to permit balls to roll in single file. When the pedal is depressed, the tee is lowered and spring compressed so that a ball may roll from the chute onto the tee. Releasing the ball permits the spring to expand, thereby raising the tee to its resting position above the floor area. A rod to which the tee is mounded is threaded and engages a threaded socket mounted to the floor area. Rotation of the rod within the socket raises or lowers the pedal height as well as the tee height. The device illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,888,256 issued to Floyd D. Baumgartner on Nov. 22, 1932 works on similar principles, although the device is slightly more complicated. Downward force on a pedal is indirectly communicated to a tee by a lever and piston system. The depressed tee may accept one ball which is raised above the playing surface upon release of the pedal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,291, issued to Ronald T. Smith on Jun. 21, 1994, demonstrates a below-ground golf practice apparatus in which depression of a pedal simultaneously lowers a main shaft which is pivotally connected to a tee and actuates the release of a ball from a dispenser. The released ball rests on the tee which is raised on a riser rod by an air cylinder after the pedal is released. A height adjuster consisting of a bolt and two adjustable nuts is coupled to the main shaft and limits the rise of the ball by limiting the vertical travel of the riser rod.
The below-ground device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,657, issued to Joseph P. Bussiere et al. on Jun. 11, 1991, functions in a manner similar to that illustrated in the Smith patent. In this device, the main shaft is "L" shaped with a spring and a gas shock connected to the small segment of the "L" and a tee connected to the extreme end of the large segment. Connected to the extreme end of the short segment is a long lever which activates means for releasing a ball from a hopper. A depressible button is connected by a rod to the shaft along the large segment. In this device, a disc having oval shaped holes rotates within the hopper and permits single balls to be released into a feeder chute that terminates in the region wherein the tee is lowered. Depression of the button simultaneously lowers the tee and rotates the ball-releasing disc. The spring connected to the short segment controls the speed with which the gas shock returns the tee to the rest position. Tee height adjustment means consist of a tee adjuster knob which is interposed between the button and the tee and which functions in a manner identical to that of the stop screw found in the Buell device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,198,968, issued to Josephine F. Jewett on Apr. 30, 1940, shows a below-ground golf teeing device which has a pedal mounted to a rod which is pivotally attached to one end of a main shaft. Beneath the point at which the rod and shaft meet is a compressible spring. The other end of the shaft terminates in a slot which is engaged by a pin attached to a piston. A conical section on which a single ball may rest is mounted to the top of the piston. The piston and conical section reside within a vertically-oriented cylinder which terminates above ground with an elastic tapered portion having a hole in the middle. An arm is pivotally mounted at one end to the outer surface of the cylinder. The other end of the arm is an arcuate prong that is free to rotate about a pivot point located between the two ends of the arm. At the pivot point in the arm, a link is pivotally mounted at one end to the arm and at the other to the main shaft. With the device at rest, a ball may feed from a chute connected to a hopper onto the top of the conical section. Depressing the pedal compresses the spring and causes the main shaft to pivot about its pivot point with the link. As the slotted end of the shaft rises, the engagement of the slot with the pin forces the piston and ball-loaded conical section to rise. As the ball rises, it is extruded through the elastic tapered portion. At the same time, the arcuate prong rotates about the pivot point with the link and comes to rest above the ball seated ont he tapered conical portion, thereby securing the ball. The compressed spring effectuates the return of the piston and pedal to their respective resting points.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,013,881, issued to Walter P. Fleming on Sep. 10, 1935, reveals a below-ground golf teeing apparatus in which the tee is fixed. A main shaft is connected to a depressible pedal by a dowel at one end and to a pair of rods at the other end. One of the two rods supports a ball lifting cup which, in a resting position, may receive one golf ball from a chute leading to a ball hopper. The other rod supports a cup which guides the placement of a ball onto a fixed tee. The shaft is pivotally mounted to a fulcrum located between the two ends. An extendible spring is attached at one end to the top surface of the device and at the other end to the main shaft between the fulcrum and the pedal. Depressing the pedal stretches the spring and at the same time raises the ball lifting cup and the guide cup until they achieve a configuration which permits the ball to be released from the lifting cup into the guide cup and onto the tee. As the spring returns the shaft to the rest position, the two cups retract, leaving the ball positioned on the tee and ready for the next stroke.
United Kingdom Patent No. 2,274,788, issued to Shawki Beidas and published on Sep. 10, 1994; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,054, issued to Arthur Stone on Apr. 15, 1980, show other below-ground apparatuses in which the tee remains stationary. In the Beidas patent, a pivoting arm connected to a foot pedal is used to elevate a ball and to deposit it on top of the tee. The apparatus shown in the Stone patent appears in more than one embodiment. In a first embodiment, a pivoting arm collects individual balls and conveys them to the top of the tee. In another embodiment, a piston on a crank receives a golf ball on a tee during a down stroke and presents the ball for hitting on an up stroke.
The devices shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,267, issued to Donald Burks et al. on May 2, 1995; and in Canadian Patent No. 1,167,077, issued to Robert J. Karr on May 8, 1984, are above-ground teeing apparatuses. In the Burks et al. device, balls are stored in a chute-like hopper. A pedal is used to trigger the release of a single ball onto a ramp which leads to the top of a tee. Gravity causes the ball to roll into position. The Karr invention is an electric teeing apparatus in which a feeder arm structure transports balls from a hopper to a tee.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.